The Finals: Roman Rodriguez vs. Marquis Henderson

February 19th, 2012

16-year-old Marquis Henderson is a YCS first-timer from Atlanta, Georgia. Thanks to his T.G. Deck, he has now made it to the Finals a YCS tournament! His opponent, Roman Rodriguez from Hialeah, Florida will be facing off against Henderson for a shot at the YCS victory. Rodriguez made it here with his Dino Rabbit Deck – a popular Deck choice in this weekend’s tournament.Henderson opened up Duel 1 by activating Pot of Duality to reveal Beast King Barbaros, Pot of Duality, and Horn of the Phantom Beast from the top of his Deck. He added the Barbaros to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Next, he Normal Summoned Barbaros and Set 4 cards to his back row.

Rodriguez opened up with Effect Veiler, Torrential Tribute, 2 copies of Tour Guide From the Underworld, and 2 copies of Rescue Rabbit. He tried to Normal Summon a Rescue Rabbit, but Henderson flipped Solemn Warning and gave up 2000 Life Points to negate its Summon.

[When faced by an early Rescue Rabbit, it’s frequently better to negate the Summon than to negate the effect. This way, it goes to the Graveyard and cannot be retrieved by Leviair the Sea Dragon. Remember, Tour Guide From the Underworld isn’t Limited, but Monster Reborn is. Odds are, they’re more likely to have a Guide than Reborn as a follow-up.]

Henderson attacked with Beast King Barbaros next turn, dropping Rodriguez down to 6100 Life Points. Henderson Set a card to his back row before ending his turn.

Rodriguez drew Sabersaurus next turn. He Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and activated its effect, and Henderson flipped Skill Drain to try to negate its effect; but Rodriguez flipped Torrential Tribute to clear the field, and while Tour Guide was in the Graveyard, it Special Summoned Sangan to the field. Sangan attacked, but was banished by Henderson’s Dimensional Prison.

Henderson Summoned T.G. Warwolf and attacked directly with it next turn. Rodriguez dropped down to 4900 Life Points. Then Henderson Set a card to his back row and passed.

Rodriguez Summoned Rescue Rabbit next turn and banished it to Special Summon 2 copies of Kabazauls from his Deck. He combined them to Summon Number 39: Utopia and then ended his turn.

[Remember that Skill Drain was active. The Evolzars would be unable to negate anything, so Rodriquez picked the biggest monster he had available instead.]

Henderson switched his Warwolf to Defense Position and passed.

Rodriguez drew Heavy Storm next turn! He used it to try to destroy Henderson’s 5 back rows, but Henderson Chained Starlight Road! Rodriguez Chained Maxx “C”, so when Henderson Special Summoned Stardust Dragon, Rodriguez was able to draw Compulsory Evacuation Device from his Deck. Rodriguez Normal Summoned Sabersaurus and Set Compulsory Evacuation Device before ending his turn.

Henderson activated Pot of Duality to reveal Dimensional Prison, Skill Drain, and Reborn Tengu from the top of his Deck. He added the Tengu to his hand and shuffled the other 2 cards back into his Deck. Next, Henderson switched his Warwolf into Attack Position. He attacked Utopia with Stardust Dragon, but Rodriguez flipped Compulsory Evacuation Device to return Stardust Dragon to the Extra Deck. Warwolf attacked Sabersaurus next, and Henderson flipped Horn of the Phantom Beast in the Damage Step to win the battle and draw a card. Henderson Normal Summoned Reborn Tengu before ending his turn.

Rodriguez drew Book of Moon next turn and Set it.

Henderson Normal Summoned another Tengu and then combined his Tengus to Xyz Summon his own Number 39: Utopia. He tried attacking Rodriguez’s Utopia with his own, but Rodriguez blocked the attack by using Book of Moon to put Henderson’s Utopia face-down. Henderson Set a fifth card to his back row before ending his turn.

Rodriguez attacked Henderson’s face-down Utopia with his own, but lost out to Henderson’s Mirror Force. Then he activated Monster Reborn to try to revive Beast King Barbaros, but Henderson negated the Reborn with Solemn Judgment! Rodriguez was left with just a Tour Guide and Effect Veiler in his hand, while Henderson had a Utopia face-down, a T.G. Warwolf in Attack Position with a Horn attached, a Skill Drain face-up, and another face-down back row. Rodriguez Set Effect Veiler before passing his turn.

Henderson Summoned T.G. Rush Rhino next turn. He used his T.G. Warwolf to attack over Veiler and draw a card with the effect of his Horn, and then attacked directly with T.G. Rush Rhino and Utopia, dropping Rodriguez down to 700 Life Points.

Rodriguez drew Trap Dustshoot on the next turn and conceded, completely overwhelmed by Henderson’s field.Marquis Henderson dominates Duel 1 with his Traps to defeat Roman Rodriguez. Rodriguez will be going first in Duel 2!

Rodriguez started by Summoning Rescue Rabbit and used its effect to banish it and Summon 2 Kabazauls from his Deck. Henderson Special Summoned T.G. Warwolf from his hand when they hit the field. Rodriguez combined his Dinosaurs to Xyz Summon Evolzar Laggia and Set 3 cards to his back row before passing.

[Special Summoning T.G. Warwolf when Rodriguez Summoned his Kabazauls was an amazing play. It allowed Henderson to Summon his only monster before his first turn started, causing Rodriguez’s Trap Dustshoot to miss the opportunity to send a monster back to Henderson’s Deck.]

Henderson drew a card and activated Mystical Space Typhoon during his Draw Phase to destroy Rodriguez’s Mystical Space Typhoon. Then Rodriguez activated Trap Dustshoot, revealing Starlight Road, Horn of the Phantom Beast, and 2 copies of TG1-EM1 from Henderson’s hand. There were no monsters to return to the Deck! Henderson put T.G. Warwolf in Attack Position and Set all 4 Traps before ending his turn.

Rodriguez Summoned Tour Guide From the Underworld and used its effect to Special Summon another copy of Tour Guide. Then he combined his 2 Tour Guides to Summon Leviair the Sea Dragon, and used its effect to detach a Tour Guide and Special Summon Rescue Rabbit. He banished the Rescue Rabbit to Special Summon 2 copies of Sabersaurus from his Deck and then combined his Dinosaurs to Summon another Laggia. Henderson tried to use both copies of TG1-EM1 to steal a Laggia, but Rodriguez negated them both with the effects of his Laggias. Laggia attacked and destroyed T.G. Warwolf, and then Leviair and the other Laggia attacked directly to drop Henderson down to 2600 Life Points. Henderson searched his Deck for a T.G. Rush Rhino to add to his hand in the End Phase with his Warwolf’s effect.

Henderson drew and activated Pot of Duality, revealing Dark Hole, Reborn Tengu, and Mirror Force from the top of his Deck! He added the Dark Hole to his hand and shuffled the other cards back into his Deck. He activated Dark Hole to destroy both copies of Laggia and the Leviair, and then Normal Summoned T.G. Rush Rhino and attacked with it. Rodriguez dropped down to 6000 Life Points.

Rodriguez drew Bottomless Trap Hole and Set it.

Henderson attacked directly with T.G. Rush Rhino again to bring Rodriguez down to 4000 Life Points. He Set a card to his back row before passing.

Rodriguez drew Compulsory Evacuation Device and Set it.

Henderson attacked directly with T.G. Rush Rhino to drop Rodriguez down to 2000 Life Points. He Set another card to his back row and passed.

Rodriguez passed without making a play.

Henderson attacked with T.G. Rush Rhino and Rodriguez flipped Compulsory Evacuation Device to return it to Henderson’s hand. Then Henderson Normal Summoned the Rhino again, but lost his monster to Bottomless Trap Hole.

Rodriguez drew Solemn Warning and Set it.

Henderson drew a card and passed.

Rodriguez drew a card and Set it.

Henderson drew and Summoned T.G. Warwolf. Rodriguez flipped Torrential Tribute to destroy it, and Rodriguez grabbed a T.G. Rush Rhino from his Deck in the End Phase with the effect of his destroyed Warwolf.

Rodriguez drew Cyber Dragon next turn, but with no monster on Henderson’s field, it was no immediate help.

Henderson Normal Summoned T.G. Rush Rhino and attacked directly with it, forcing Rodriguez to use Book of Moon to put the Rhino face-down in order to stay in the Duel.

Rodriguez drew Kabazauls next turn. He tried to Summon Kabazauls, but its Summon was negated by Solemn Warning. Next, Rodriguez Special Summoned Cyber Dragon. He activated Mind Control next to take control of Henderson’s face-down T.G. Rush Rhino and tried attacking with Cyber Dragon to win the Duel; but Henderson flipped Mirror Force and destroyed the attacking Cyber Dragon! Rodriguez activated Dark Hole to destroy the T.G. Rush Rhino he had taken control of and then entered his End Phase. In the End Phase, Henderson used the effect of his T.G. Rush Rhino to add a T.G. Warwolf from his Deck to his hand.

Henderson activated Pot of Duality next turn, revealing Beast King Barbaros and 2 copies of Dimensional Prison from the top of his Deck. He added a Prison to his hand and then Normal Summoned T.G. Warwolf. Warwolf attacked directly, and then Henderson flipped Horn of the Phantom Beast in the damage step to deal exactly the 2000 points of damage he needed to win the Duel!